Russian Court Fines Google More Than World’s GDP

THE TELEGRAPH: Moscow seeks compensation after tech giant blocked pro-Kremlin content

Russia has demanded Google pay a fine worth more than the world’s GDP for blocking pro-Kremlin media outlets.

Judges in Moscow are seeking around $20 decillion from the technology giant, many times the estimated $100-trillion size of the global economy. If written out in full, the fine would be 20 followed by 33 zeros.

The penalty, which far eclipses Google’s own $2-trillion market value, comes after the US technology business barred pro-Moscow propaganda channel Tsargrad TV, which is owned by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev, from YouTube four years ago. » | Matthew Field, Senior Technology Reporter | Wednesday, October 30, 2024

For numbers bigger than a trillion, click here.

Alexei Navalny Reported Dead: General Petraeus Reacts

Feb 16, 2024 | “In a way I’m surprised that he lived as long as he did.” General Petraeus reacts to reports of the “tragic” death of Putin’s main opposition leader Alexi Navalny on Times Radio.

Related video, article and material here.

Russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny Has Died, Russian Media Report | BBC News | BBC News

Feb 16, 2024 | Russia's most significant opposition leader for the past decade, Alexei Navalny, has died in prison inside the Arctic Circle, Russian news agencies report, quoting the prison service.

Seen as President Vladimir Putin's most vociferous critic, Navalny was serving a 19-year jail term for offences widely considered politically motivated. He was moved to an Arctic penal colony, considered one of the toughest jails, late last year.

The prison service in the Yamalo-Nenets district said he had "felt unwell" after a walk on Friday. He had "almost immediately lost consciousness", it said in a statement. The causes of his death were being established, Tass news agency reported.


Related articles/material in German, French here.

En direct, Alexeï Navalny est mort : l’opposant russe « vient d’être brutalement assassiné par le Kremlin », affirme le président de la Lettonie

LE MONDE : L’annonce de la mort de l’adversaire numéro un de Vladimir Poutine suscite une vive émotion parmi les puissances occidentales.

12 : 14 : L’Union européenne tient « le régime russe » pour « seul responsable » de la mort d’Alexeï Navalny, affirme Charles Michel

« Alexeï Navalny s’est battu pour les valeurs de liberté et de démocratie. Pour ses idéaux, il a fait le sacrifice ultime. L’UE tient le régime russe pour seul responsable de cette mort tragique », a déclaré le président du Conseil européen Charles Michel, sur X.

Il a poursuivi en écrivant : « J’adresse mes plus sincères condoléances à sa famille. Et à ceux qui luttent pour la démocratie partout dans le monde, dans les conditions les plus sombres. Les combattants meurent. Mais la lutte pour la #liberté ne se termine jamais ». LIVE EN COURS » | vendredi 16 février 2024

Russia Declares Estonian PM Kaja Kallas a 'Wanted' Person | DW News

Feb 13, 2024 | The Kremlin says it placed her on the wanted list for taking hostile actions against Russia – and what it calls "the desecration of historical memory". Moscow has long criticized Estonia for removing Soviet-era monuments. Estonia's state secretary and Lithuania's culture minister are also on the list. Kallas has been a vocal support of Ukraine since Russia's invasion. For more, we talk to our Russia analyst Konstantin Eggert, who joins us from Vilnius.

En direct, guerre en Ukraine : poursuivie par Moscou, la première ministre estonienne dénonce la « tactique d’intimidation » russe : Moscou a lancé un avis de recherche contre Kaja Kallas, la première ministre d’Estonie, le secrétaire d’Etat estonien, Taimar Peterkop, et le ministre de la culture de Lituanie, Simonas Kairys, invoquant la vision opposée de l’histoire qu’ont la Russie et ces Etats. LIVE EN COURS »

It’s Time to End Putin’s Dictatorship | Liberty of Russia Legion

Listen to this Russian criticize the Kremlin’s dictatorship.

Russia Blames US for Alleged Kremlin Drone Attack - BBC News

May 4, 2023 | Russia has accused the United States of being behind an overnight drone attack on the Kremlin that it claims intended to kill Vladimir Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that "decisions on such attacks are not made in Kyiv, but in Washington". Peskov did not provide any evidence to back up the claims, but he said that an urgent investigation was under way. Yesterday, US officials said the White House had no warning of a drone attack on the Kremlin. Ukraine has also denied responsibility for the attack.

Russia Accuses Ukraine of Attempting to Kill President Putin with Drone Attacks on Kremlin

May 3, 2023 | Russia has accused Ukraine of attempting to kill Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a drone attack on the Kremlin. That's according to the state-run RIA news agency. It says two drones were shot down, adding the Kremlin will respond, when and how it sees fit.

Related article and video here.

War in Ukraine: Zelenskyy Advisor Rejects Kremlin's Call for Talks | Conflict Zone

A senior advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says nuclear threats from Vladimir Putin need to be taken seriously, but told DW's Tim Sebastian that this is not the first time the Kremlin has sought to blackmail the world.

Ihor Zhovkva, who works in the president's office in Kyiv, said the world's nuclear powers needed to convince Putin to step back from nuclear threats as Russian forces continue to suffer setbacks in Ukraine — but that for now the only talks that will take place with the Kremlin are on the battlefield.

Zhovkva said that if Russia was serious about negotiations, it would not have conducted sham "referendums" in occupied Ukrainian regions and illegally annexed the territories. Zhovkva also underlined that Ukraine would continue to seek the prosecution of war criminals and the assistance of international organizations and partners to collect evidence. He said those Ukrainians who willingly collaborated with Russian occupiers would face punishment.

Jake Sullivan: US Will Act ‘Decisively’ If Russia Uses Nuclear Weapons in Ukraine

THE GUARDIAN: US national security adviser says: ‘Any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia’

America and its allies will act “decisively” if Russia uses a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine, US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said on Sunday, reaffirming the Joe Biden White House’s previous response to mounting concerns that Vladimir Putin’s threats are in increased danger of being realized.

“We have communicated directly, privately and at very high levels to the Kremlin that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with catastrophic consequences for Russia, that the US and our allies will respond decisively, and we have been clear and specific about what that will entail,” Sullivan told CBS’s Face The Nation. » | Edward Helmore | Sunday, September 25, 2022

How the Kremlin Is Forcing Ukrainians to Adopt Russian Life

THE NEW YORK YIMES: In Russian-occupied regions in Ukraine, local leaders are forcing civilians to accept Russian rule. Next come sham elections that would formalize Vladimir V. Putin’s claim that they are Russian territories.

Russian soldiers on the shore of the Black Sea in Skadovsk, a city in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. | Sergei Ilnitsky/EPA, via Shutterstock
They have handed out Russian passports, cellphone numbers and set-top boxes for watching Russian television. They have replaced Ukrainian currency with the ruble, rerouted the internet through Russian servers and arrested hundreds who have resisted assimilation.

In ways big and small, the occupying authorities on territory seized by Moscow’s forces are using fear and indoctrination to compel Ukrainians to adopt a Russian way of life. “We are one people,” blue-white-and-red billboards say. “We are with Russia.”

Now comes the next act in President Vladimir V. Putin’s 21st-century version of a war of conquest: the grass-roots “referendum.”

Russia-appointed administrators in towns, villages and cities like Kherson in Ukraine’s south are setting the stage for a vote as early as September that the Kremlin will present as a popular desire in the region to become part of Russia. They are recruiting pro-Russia locals for new “election commissions” and promoting to Ukrainian civilians the putative benefits of joining their country; they are even reportedly printing the ballots already. » | Anton Troianovski, Valerie Hopkins, Marc Santora and Michael Schwirtz | Published: Saturday, July 30, 2022; Updated: Sunday, July 31, 2022

Curious Number of Russian Oligarchs Have Died Since Invasion of Ukraine

Apr 23, 2022 • Ali Velshi reports on four separate instances of Kremlin-connected, extremely wealthy Russians with ties to the oil industry who have died by suicide since Russia's war in Ukraine began.

Putin Tightens Grip on Russian Dissent behind a New Iron Curtain

Apr 16, 2022 • Since the invasion of Ukraine the Kremlin has further stifled what little freedom Russians had to criticize the government. Garry Kasparov, prominent Russian opposition figure, a chess grandmaster, former world champion and now chairman of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which promotes democracy in the U.S. and abroad, joins Nick Schifrin to discuss.

Ukraine War: West 'Spooked' by Kremlin and a 'Robust' Response Is Needed

Apr 8, 2022 • Tobias Ellwood MP tells Sky News the West has been "spooked" by Kremlin rhetoric, and a "robust" response is needed to stand up against the Russian government.

The Chair of the House of Commons Defence Select Committee said Ukraine needed greater weapon systems, and "daft" arguments about whether weapons were defensive or offensive needed to stop.

He said Putin seemed very secure in his job and wasn't "scared" of any war crimes or breaching of the Geneva Conventions.

Kremlin Propaganda Shields Russians from Horrors of Ukraine Invasion

Apr 5, 2022 • NBC News' Ken Dilanian reports on how Russian news propaganda is shielding residents from the horrors of the invasion of Ukraine.

Velshi: When Biden Said Putin 'Cannot Remain in Power', He Was Right. And He Should Stick to It

Mar 27, 2022 • America is backsliding on democracy, largely because of the after effects of Donald Trump’s undermining and denial of the outcome of the 2020 election. But democratic backsliding is the norm all over the world today. According to a report by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, the number of countries moving in an authoritarian direction in 2020 outnumbered those going in a democratic direction. So when President Joe Biden said Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power” he was right. And he should stick by it.

"Russia Uses Religious Sentiments to Support Political Crusades" Religion in the Russia-Ukraine War

Mar 15, 2022 • Russian Patriarch Kirill, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, has spoken of Russia's opponents as 'evil forces,' portraying Ukraine as a nation succumbing to 'sinful Western practices,' such as gay pride parades. The church's close ties to the Kremlin have been essential to getting the public to rally behind the war effort, says DW's religious affairs analyst Martin Gak.

Meanwhile, in Ukraine, some 30 million orthodox Christians are split between a self-governing church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church which is part of the Moscow Patriarchate. But since the invasion, the rival leaders have been united in their condemnation of Russia.

Ukraine is also home to 4.5 million catholics, who are looking to the head of their church to wage peace. A Vatican official has said Pope Francis would be willing to facilitate dialogue in the Ukraine conflict. But while the pontiff has called it a 'war which sows death, destruction and misery' - he has neither named Vladimir Putin as the aggressor, nor appealed to Kirill to intervene on the side of peace.

Fact-check: Fox's Tucker Carlson Caught Amplifying Kremlin Claims

Mar 12, 2022 • U.S. officials are calling out Russia for renewing false allegations the U.S. is funding bio-weapons labs in Ukraine. Despite this, Fox News host Tucker Carlson has been amplifying Russia’s claims. MSNBC’s Ari Melber is joined by Michael McFaul, the former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine, to discuss.

Kremlin Papers Appear to Show Putin’s Plot to Put Trump in White House

Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. The documents appear to confirm the Kremlin possesses compromising material on Trump. Photograph: Evan Vucci/AP
THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Documents suggest Russia launched secret multi-agency effort to interfere in US democracy

Vladimir Putin personally authorised a secret spy agency operation to support a “mentally unstable” Donald Trump in the 2016 US presidential election during a closed session of Russia’s national security council, according to what are assessed to be leaked Kremlin documents.

The key meeting took place on 22 January 2016, the papers suggest, with the Russian president, his spy chiefs and senior ministers all present.
They agreed a Trump White House would help secure Moscow’s strategic objectives, among them “social turmoil” in the US and a weakening of the American president’s negotiating position.

Russia’s three spy agencies were ordered to find practical ways to support Trump, in a decree appearing to bear Putin’s signature. » | Luke Harding, Julian Borger and Dan Sabbagh | Thursday, July 15, 2021

Paul Jay on Trump-Putin and the Real Threats to Democracy

Whether the Kremlin meddled in the U.S. election or not, the hyper-focus on Russiagate overlooks bigger threats: Russian elites to the Russian people, and U.S. elites to the American people, says Paul Jay